20 Mar March ’23 News: What you need to know..
March News
March marks the return of Autumn and two of our wonderful Paediatric Physios!
And then it was Autumn. Living in accordance with the seasons is something many cultures around the world encourage for good health. Our Australian Summers hold a bit of a celebrity status as people take time out and really get out and about in the great outdoors. As a transitional season, Autumn brings with it a bit of respite from the celebrity status of Summer. While the changes are subtle for now, Autumn is a great time to get out and enjoy the water while it’s still warm, take some of the heat out of your workouts with the cooler days, and work on sleep hygiene as our nights get longer again. So happy Autumn!
In this month’s newsletter, we give you a rundown on vertigo and what it means to have balanced ear crystals. We take a look at the BEAT IT Diabetes program; helping you get active despite your diabetes or other chronic condition. And lastly, the education quarter takes you through the importance of stretching those hip flexors, so you can keep on swinging those hips! Enjoy 🙂
Paediatric Team Availability
We’re happy to report that our child and teen physiotherapist Requel Trevillion is back at work after recovering from her wrist injury. We want to thank you for your patience and flexibility during the last few months while the team balanced the needs of our tiniest clients.
Liz Kassis, one of our other child physios, has also returned to the clinic with a focus on providing Hydrotherapy for children. Liz won’t be taking in-room appointments but if you’d like to enquire further about our Hydrotherapy services or would like to book an appointment with Requel, please contact the St Leonard’s team at (02) 9438 1782 or email inquiries to enquiries@stleonardsphysio.com.au
Don’t let your Chronic Condition Call the Shots!
Living with Diabetes or another chronic lifestyle condition can be hugely challenging and often depressing. Not only do these conditions sometimes require you to adapt to different ways of living, but they can often feel like a huge setback to living the life you want to live.
The team here are St Leonard’s Physiotherapy want you to know that overcoming those setbacks is possible. With the right help, you can BEAT IT!
Our BEAT IT Diabetes Program is focused on just that; helping people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes to overcome the challenges of getting and staying active. The program focuses on tailoring individual exercises to your specific needs within a friendly and supportive environment. And the best news is that the first eight weeks are free!
Funded by the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS), we work with you over the course of 16 sessions (two per week for eight weeks) running a full program from assessment to education and training, and then finishing with a final consultation to review your results.
Once the eight weeks is up, you can also choose whether or not you wish to continue with the program at a cost of $35 per class (not taking into account any rebates you may receive through your private health insurer).
For more information on our BEAT IT Diabetes Program, contact the St Leonard’s team at (02) 9438 1782 or email inquiries to enquiries@stleonardsphysio.com.au
Are Your Crystals Balanced?
Ear crystals. That’s right, we’re not talking about the gemstone healing type, but the ones that when balanced correctly prevent our bodies from feeling like they’re constantly spinning.
For anyone that’s experienced symptoms of vertigo before, you’ll know that the instability and dizziness experienced is enough to count you out from pretty much anything you were planning on doing.
Our latest blog post takes a closer look at the debilitating condition known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) or more commonly, vertigo. We help you to understand what causes the crystals to become unbalanced in the first place and thankfully, some of the helpful remedies that can be employed to overcome this unsettling feeling.
Jump over to the news section of our website for more information.
The Education Quarter
How to Stretch and Strengthen your Hip Flexors…
The hip flexors are a group of muscles that play an important role in the movement and stability of the hip joint. The primary hip flexors are the psoas major (pronounced ‘sow-ass’) and the iliacus (known collectively as the ‘iliopsoas’) and the rectus femoris (one of the quad muscles). Together they help you bend your hips, extend your knees, walk, climb stairs, run, squat, jump. In summary, they are vital to everyday and athletic movement. Unfortunately, sitting for long periods, as so many of us do for work for instance, is particularly bad for the hip flexors. The muscles deactivate and shorten, getting progressively tighter and weaker. In short, this can affect your gait, which in turn can affect other muscles and joints.
How to prevent this?
Ideally, you shouldn’t sit for too long. Firstly, set a reminder to get up and move around – even if it’s just a walk around your desk every hour. (Or stand whenever you are on the telephone.)
Secondly, warm up and cool down properly before exercising with a proper stretching protocol.
Remind yourself to sit, stand and move with good posture. (Sinking down into the pelvis or jutting a hip to one side when standing contributes to hip flexor tightness.)
Lastly, add hip-flexor strengthening and stretching exercises to your regular exercise regime.
Strengthening exercises:
- Leg raises: Sit or lie with your legs out in front of you. Raise one leg off the ground at a time.
- Hip Flexor Marches: Wrap a resistance loop/mini-band around the feet. Lie on the ground with your legs raised (from your hips.) Push one foot out at a time.
- Fit-ball tucks: Lie face down on a fit ball. Walk forward on your hands until the ball is under your shins. Curl your knees under your torso (still on the ball). Release and curl the ball out.
Lunges, squats, planks, bridges, mountain-climbers, L-sits and forward leg kicks are also great exercises for the hip flexors.
Stretching exercises:
- Kneeling stretch: Kneel on the ground and then step one foot forward, so that your knees are in two, 90-degree angles. Lunge forward into the bent leg.
- Pigeon Pose: Sit on the ground with one leg bent in front of you (as if you were about to sit cross-legged) with the other extended straight behind you. It’s usually easiest to get into this position from your hands and knees.
Stretches that you might usually perform for your quadriceps and glutes will also benefit your hip flexors.
Incorporating these exercises into your regular fitness routine and ensuring you move (and even stretch) throughout the day will help improve your hip flexor strength and flexibility, relieving pain and improving your everyday and athletic movement.
For more personalised advice call (02) 9438 1782 to make an appointment with the team at St Leonard’s Physiotherapy, and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Facebook for handy tips and updates.
We are always here to help.